THUNDER: After defecting, Sanchez is opening eyes

TRENTON — While Thunder right fielder Yeral Sanchez may not have as much time to make an impact as some of the younger prospects on the team, he hasn’t wasted any.

Filling in for the injured Tyler Austin, the 28-year-old Cuban defector has engineered about as good of a three-game start to his Double-A career as one could hope for. In 10 at-bats, he has six hits, including a double and a home run, with four RBIs and five runs scored. He’s also made a trio of outstanding running catches in right field.

Though three games is obviously not long enough to predict long-term success, Sanchez’s play — and the fact that Cuban players generally aren’t able to be scouted as thoroughly by American scouts — makes him one of the more intriguing players on the team going forward.

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“I’m sure he’s ready to make his mark here,” said Thunder manager Tony Franklin. “He’s probably waited for this opportunity for a long, long time. And now he’s moved up a level, to a level you can really open up some eyes. I’m pretty excited to have him here and see what he’s going to do.”

Sanchez’s career in the United States didn’t exactly get off to a flying start. In 31 games with High-A Tampa, he hit just .226. During that time, however, he was recovering from a hand injury after being hit with a pitch on his pinkie finger. That issue appears to be behind him.

“Stay focused on the things I need to do, every athlete goes through that, and keeping working hard,” Sanchez said, through interpreter and hitting coach Luis Dorante, when asked about coming back from the injury. “It’s paying off now.”

His time in Tampa notwithstanding, he has shown solid ability at the plate. During the 2009-10 season — his last in Cuba — he batted .312/.392/.478. After that season, he was finally able to make his way to the Dominican Republic, where he caught the Yankees’ eye via tryout. He signed this year for $400,000.

That doesn’t mean he hadn’t had his eyes on pinstripes before then, even if it wasn’t always easy to catch the Bombers on TV.

“To be able to watch the Yankees games in Cuba, you have to rent a disk,” he said. “I was able to do that and watch the games, but not a lot of people can do that. They just watch the Cuban channels. The image that Cubans have (of the Yankees), they respect it a lot.”

Sanchez said that, while he always wanted to play in the United States, staying in Cuba during his early 20s was the right choice.

“When I was 20, I was trying to get out of Cuba and play here,” he said. “Coming out at 25, I was more mature and aware of what he was going to confront. It was difficult, it’s always hard. Being more mature, it was the right decision.”

Playing in the Cuban National series, Sanchez saw plenty of top-flight talent up close, which gave him confidence that he could succeed here. He was teammates with the Cincinnati Reds’ Aroldis Chapman for Holguin, located in the southeast of the country, and mentioned playing against the Oakland A’s’ Yoenis Cespedes and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig.

“It’s a big motivation to become one of them,” he said.

Like all Cuban defectors, Sanchez had to wrestle with the decision to leave family members behind. While his wife came with him to the United States and he has some relatives here, his closest family is still in Cuba.

“I left a lot of good people there, mom and dad and friends, close family,” he said. “If I had the opportunity to go and see them someday, I would like to.”

Sanchez’s transition to the United States has been made a bit more difficult by the fact that he does not speak English. For now, though, he’s happy to let his play do the talking.

“It’s the same language,” he said with a smile. “Baseball is baseball everywhere.”

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The Thunder had a pair of roster moves Saturday. Outfielder Mikeson Oliberto was promoted from Staten Island, while pitcher Francisco Rondon was brought down from Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre.

Outfielder Cody Grice was promoted to Scranton and reliever Aaron Dott was placed on the disabled list with a foot blister to make room on the roster.

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Before the game, the Thunder had a team meeting in which Franklin handed out literature concerning Major League Baseball’s policy on sexual orientation. It was a part of a sport-wide initiative.

“I think it’s important that the players understand what the guidelines are, and I certainly think it’s a good thing, that you respect everybody’s space and their views on things,” Franklin said. “Everybody doesn’t think the same way or act the same way, and that the way it is. We have to be aware of that.”